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We are going on a folk camp holiday August B/H(3nights) but want a tent big enough for 4 as we have 2 girls ( 9 and 6 ) but want to be able to cook etc etc..

Have looked on web sites and ther are loads!!..the mind boggles!

Also don't want to spend 3 hours putting it up and then arguing like mad!..

any advice greatfully recieved..

p.s I'm doing this as D/H wants a tent for weekends away etc!

Hello Mas69,

Welcome to the forum...

Where do we start..? It really depends on what style of tent you are looking for... Will you all be happy sleeping in one area, or would the girls like thier own? Cooking inside is another issuee... though can be done, if well ventilated and of course not close to the side...

I personall would be looking at maybe a 6 berth with seperate sleeping pods. May i suggest you look at something like the Vango Yukon 600, Khyam Kansas 6, Wynnster Raven 6 or the Gelert Horizon 6. They are a tunnel style vis-a-vis and fairly easy to erect. And from what most people say, fairly stable in wind.

BTW, we have just purchased a Yukon 800 and plan to trial pitch this weekend. I will be posting after, to let people know the ease of putting one up.

Roll on the Weekends!

Thanks for the replies...

were going to a tent place at the weekend so should get a better idea. on't want one that;s to complicated as it will only we me and D/H putting it up x

there is nothing better than seeing the tents in the flesh. As many have said most 4 berths are too small for 4 people unless for 1/2 night stopovers leaving all baggage in the car  if you have 2 adults pitching then most 6 person tents will be fine although factor in who is minding the kids if they are young and also dont forget the time it takes to set everything else up - kitchen, sleeping area, storage of food/clothes etc etc that i find can be as long as pitching and i always forget and am always tired and grumpy by then

hth

ive instructions for a proaction 6 any good to? its a vis a vis style tent, dont think youl the instructions, as all the poles are colour coded, and its very easy to put up, but give me a shout if my instructions are of any use to you.

good luck and happy camping, iam off to the newforest for a week on saturday in my colmen mackenzie cant wait

Get your girls involved in the setting up, even if it is only things like holding poles and passing pegs, hammering in pegs - with an adult giving a discrete final knock.    That way they learn that pitching is an important part of the camping holiday.  
Even having somebody hold a pole makes a big difference. 
My two know that the fun doesn't start until the tent is pitched.
We arrive on site, get the tent up, bedrooms set - and then do something, coming back to do the sorting of of other stuff.    The way I see it is, this way we have a tent to sleep in and something to sleep on.     
Now mine are older, I may send them off to play while I do the sorting, rather than having to take them somewhere.
They also have jobs when we are camping - such as the helping take stuff to the bins/fetching water.    
Look at the layout of where the sleeping pods are - do you want to be near your girls?  Having them the other end of the tent sounds great - until you're needed at 2 in the morning.      Side by side pods are easier, or the arrangement that I went for - the main bedroom being able to be used as one big room.    

We always involve our two right from arriving on the site. As they are 15 and 11 now, this is great, they can help set up the tent and then we all muck in to get everything else set up.  Think when we go on Saturday, me and OH will probably do most of the setting up as we now have a dog that needs occupying too, so will let the kids take him for a run round the dog walk.

We also give our two jobs while we are there.  We've had more of a bargaining tool this time, as we're taking our laptop with a mobile broadband dongle on pre-pay - told them if they want to use it for msn etc, they earn it by doing the pots etc. It seems to be working, especially with my 15 year old daughter who will be away from her boyfriend for two weeks